The G.O.P. faces voter wrath, consumers suffer, and Big Oil hits a gusher. A guide to the pain and gain

It's not every day that Karl Rove gets a lesson in politics. But the President's ace strategist was brought up sharply at a recent White House meeting with a group of Republican congressional-staff chiefs when he suggested that the best approach to soaring gasoline prices was this: wait. There's no immediate fix available, so let the market work its magic, Rove said. The stratospheric pricing will reduce demand soon enough, and $3-per-gal. gas will be a memory by summer. It's basic economics.

And, if you're a Republican politician facing a re-election challenge in November, it's basic insanity. Rove should be the...